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In this episode of The Exit: Edward Valaitis, founder and managing director of Edison Avenue, shares tactical insights from his extensive experience helping businesses worth $1-25 million navigate successful exits.

Drawing from his background in commercial banking, CPA work, and strategy consulting, Edward emphasizes starting exit planning at least three years before selling.

He details the critical components of valuation preparation, including cleaning financial statements, eliminating personal expenses from business books, addressing aging accounts receivable, and securing long-term customer contracts.

Edward warns against accepting unsolicited offers, which he calls "the steak dinner" scenario in his book "Exit Like a Winner," where experienced buyers take advantage of unprepared sellers.

He explains the important distinction between financial buyers (95% of the market) and strategic buyers, who might pay premium prices for businesses that complement their existing operations.

Edward also discusses how industry trends and personal timing should influence exit decisions, recommending his "hourglass grid" exercise to help entrepreneurs realistically assess their remaining productive years.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

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Edward Valaitis is currently the Founder & Managing Partner of Edison Avenue. Edison Avenue helps entrepreneurs with annual sales of $1 Million to $25 Million to achieve financial success by representing them in the sale of their business, business valuation, business acquisition searches, and fast growth consulting. Edward Valaitis earned the prestigious Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation in 2013. He also earned his Certified Merger & Acquisition Professional (CM&AP) designation in 2017. He has more than 30 years of experience building, managing, and leading high-quality professional services firms with expertise in merger and acquisition transactions, turnarounds, acquisitions, risk consulting, strategy, due diligence, commercial lending, marketing, business development, and leadership.

Website: https://edisonavenue.com/

Edward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valaitis/

Edward’s Book: https://a.co/d/8hvrbYE

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The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/